


This Little Game We Play

by HolyTrinity



Category: Topp Dogg (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-20 08:22:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2421773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolyTrinity/pseuds/HolyTrinity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I will update every one to two days.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I will update every one to two days.

Byungjoo’s pov

I stared ahead of me blankly, mentally preparing myself for what was to come. I had hit my third strike and I was being sent to the school for lost causes. I was officially a lost cause. The disappointed expression on my foster mother’s face reminding me of such.

What happened had been an accident, but no one believed me, and all the witnesses were dead. Who would believe me anyway considering I had already fucked up two times before hand? I just had to deal with the cards dealt to me.

The bus slowed down until it stopped completely. After that, we were loaded off by a man who looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. I could sympathize. We were put into single file lines, and then marched off towards the school. The school itself was a massive thing, seeming more like a prep school then a school for lost causes.

There was one massive building, and I was assuming that’s where all the classrooms were. There were two buildings on either side of the main building – dorms maybe? I couldn’t see it yet, but the gymnasium had its own building behind the main one.

Once we entered the room, our guide turned around, sounding bored when he spoke.

“Stand in line against the wall. Anything you’ve got in your pockets need to be removed and given to me so that they may be taken to your new home.”

I didn’t have anything, but I emptied my pockets in front of the man nevertheless. We couldn’t be trusted, and I understood that. I just wanted smooth sailing here, and I had no intentions of fucking anything up. The man nodded, pleased before he went back to talking.

“Now, you will meet Ms. Park who will give you your packets. In those packets will be the rule book, a map of the school, your dorm room and your pin to enter it, your locker number – for the gym, and your schedule. Now, go.”

And that was how things went. Luckily for me, I was the fourth person in line and soon I was on my way.

Ms. Park was a nice woman, a bit intense, but nice nonetheless. She spoke in a neutral monotone that was grating after a while, but I endured it. I had to. After the extremely quick conversation, I was in a new line. We had to wait for the others, and then we were off.

Our guide – he hadn’t introduced himself and it didn’t seem like he was going to, took us to where the dorms were. The guide went to the building on the right and apparently it was the dorm for the males. The girls were in the dorm opposite ours.

It didn’t bother me, I just wanted this stay to be smooth sailing. Girls unintentionally tended to make guys forget common sense, it was even worse considering the location, and the less relationships I ran into, the better.

My dorm was on the top floor in the middle. Said dorm was empty considering my roommate was in class. The room was very clean, extremely so actually. There were two beds – but only one was made. I assumed my bed was the empty one on the left. There were covers folded up at the end of the bed and I quickly made it. The bare bed looked weird to me.

After that, I focused on unpacking. There were two medium sized dressers on either side of the room, and I got to work on loading my side up. When all my suitcases were empty, tour guide man swooped in and took them – after making sure my name was in them, and then tossed them into a bucket in the hallway. He was gone shortly after. I stared blankly, before shrugging.

Considering this place was a sort of mental facility, we didn’t get a bathroom in the dorm. The bathroom on this floor wasn’t that far away and it contained six stalls – three with toilets and three for showering. Other than that, there were three sinks, and the mirror was long enough to fit over them. There was a washroom as well, which was nice.

Luckily we didn’t have to pay for it like regular colleges. However, nothing was regular about this situation. There was a small kitchenette on this floor – more of a sitting room really considering there was just a small sink with a microwave next to it.

I was informed that there was a bigger one on the first floor where there was also a waiting room – or a game room if the excited murmurs was anything to go by. Who gives lost causes and the mentally insane game rooms? Then again, this place was most likely getting an excruciatingly large amount of money yearly. At least all of it wasn’t going to the staff.

The new students, myself included, didn’t have to go to class today. The day was almost over anyway, so I wasn’t bothered. Instead, I stuffed myself in my dorm and looked over the rules. They were pretty simple, but I was definitely pleased by the benefit chapter. Basically, we could earn money here – not the real deal of course, school money.

However, we were allowed to get snacks that we could keep in our room, and, if we get enough, we could even buy electronic devices. Maybe this place wouldn’t be so bad. Also, they were actually allowing us to keep the devices we brought with us – cellphones weren’t included. However, they put that adult supervision thing on them so we couldn’t go to certain sites. According to the rule book, they turned the wifi off at a certain time too.

We were allowed to get real money from those outside who were supporting us. If we were really good, they’d take us into the city and let us shop. This definitely didn’t sound as bad as I thought it would. I knew for a fact my foster mother would never visit me – a benefit apparently, but I did know she’d send me money. She really saw me like a son, even after what happened.

Eventually class was over and didn’t take long before my roommate appeared. At first glance I thought he was younger than me, but I’d learn later that he wasn’t. My only thought when I saw him was that I doubted I’d have any problems with him.

When he saw me, he stopped and stared blankly. It didn’t last very long before he was shrugging and making his way towards his side of the room, dropping the things he’d been carrying on the bed. Once he was situated, he turned and looked at me again.

“Name’s Hojoon.”

“My name is Byungjoo.”

He nodded and then that was it, he didn’t say anything, didn’t ask anything. Once our names had been established, he turned away and grabbed the book on top of his stack. I definitely liked him.

Hojoon and I enjoyed the comfortable silence for a while. After a while, a bell rang. I had no idea where the hell it had come from, but Hojoon huffed and stood up. When he got to the door, he turned and saw that I hadn’t moved.

“Aren’t you coming?” he asked.

“Coming where?” Hojoon snorted and ran his fingers through his black hair.

“Protocol. Every day before dinner we hang out in the Commons. We do the same thing after dinner before we’re dismissed.” He explained.

“Dismissed?” I asked.

“Yeah. After nine – when we’re dismissed, they let us do pretty much what we want as long as we stay in the dorm building. There’s security who keep us in line, but they mostly just eat the snacks we don’t buy. Hurry up, you don’t need shoes.” He finished. I nodded and stood up, following the other.

Hojoon took me to the Commons which was actually the game room. Sure enough, there was a pretty big television with multiple people surrounding it. They were arguing, but it wasn’t serious enough for the group of men in the right corner to interfere. They were content with what looked like a pound cake. Huh.

Hojoon didn’t ask me to follow him or anything, just went to the side of the Commons that was all window and sat on the ledge. There was a book waiting for him there, and he picked it up as if he had been reading it already. I had nothing else to do, and joined him on the ledge, but he didn’t say anything.

I got comfortable, appreciating the pillows and blankets set on the ledge already, and continued reading the rule book. When I finished the rule book, I learned that dinner was at seven, and it was only six thirty. Dinner started at seven and ended at eight thirty, and then we’d be in the Commons for thirty more minutes – probably to let the food settle, and then we’re given free rein in the dorm building.

I put the rule book in my pocket right around the same time a serious argument broke out. It wasn’t the people who had been arguing over the game – they had settled immediately. This was at the table by the front door of the Commons. They had been playing a game of cards I think. One of the guys, a tall guy who looked an awful lot like a camel, was yelling at whoever was sitting next to him.

Beside me, I heard Hojoon let out a low groan. I turned towards him and saw that he was watching the altercation as well.

“Do you know him?” I asked, referring to the camel guy.

“I don’t know his real name, but everyone calls him Nakta.” Fitting.

“He likes preying on the weak.” Hojoon finished as he watched.


	2. Chapter 2

I turned back to the altercation and saw that most of the people had moved so I could see who Nakta was yelling at. Sure enough, there was a tiny little thing staring up at Nakta – a fearful expression on his face. The poor thing looked utterly terrified. Hojoon made another noise, but I ignored it. Nakta was yelling about how the other had cheated, but the terrified boy wasn’t responding, just staring with wide cat-like eyes.

Nakta didn’t seem to like how unresponsive he was, and reached down, grabbing the terrified kid’s dark hair. It looked painful. The kid didn’t cry out, instead he tried to curl into himself even more. His knees had already been pretty close to his chest, but now he ducked his head and wrapped his arms around his knees, trying to get away from Nakta. The camel didn’t like that, yanking on the kid’s hair. He still didn’t make a sound.

I was getting real annoyed by his bullying, and the guards hadn’t reacted fast enough for my taste. I think Hojoon had tried to stop me, but I was already there. I grabbed Nakta’s wrist, squeezing as hard as I could.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Nakta demanded, glaring at me.

“Let him go.” I replied, ignoring the question. The poor kid peeked up at me through his bangs, but didn’t say anything. It had gotten really quiet as everyone watched, wondering how this would end. I held my ground even if the camel was taller than me. I hated bullies.

“Back off newbie, you don’t know what’s going on.” The camel growled.

“I know that you’re a camel faced bully and if you don’t let him go, there’s going to be a problem.” Nakta laughed.

“Oh that’s original. What are you going to do if I don’t let go?” I was going to answer him, but didn’t get the chance.

“Let go.”

Both Nakta and I turned to the new voice. A redhead was standing there, and he didn’t look happy at all. He was glaring at Nakta, burning through him almost. His hands were clenched into fists and he looked like he was ready to spill blood – Nakta’s.

“Oh look at who it is, his little bodyguard.” The redhead didn’t respond to that, but his glare seemed to get stronger.

“I don’t like repeating myself camel boy.” The redhead replied. It looked like Nakta was going to reply, but he suddenly turned towards me.

“Let my wrist go,” he said. I considered ignoring the request, but I let go, curious. Nakta let go of the dark haired boy like he had been burned.

“Is that better Xero?” Nakta sneered, but he didn’t sound as confident as he had when he’d been speaking to me. I noticed he hadn’t sounded nearly as confident at all with this Xero person. Xero completely ignored Nakta, instead looking at the dark haired boy who hadn’t uncurled himself yet. The boy was looking at me with a decidedly blank face. He looked young, like really young. And when he spoke, he sounded even younger.

“Thank you.” It sounded like he had been crying, but his eyes were dry.

“Uh, no problem.”

The boy watched me a bit longer before he uncurled himself and then promptly attached himself to Xero. He was taller than I thought, but we were pretty much the same height. Xero shot once last scathing, and really terrifying, glare at Nakta before he turned and went towards one of the couches on the other side, the boy still pressed tightly against him. Once they were settled, the room seemed to press play and noise filled the air again. Nakta didn’t look at me as he turned away, instead going to where the others had continued the game.

With the trouble dealt with, I rejoined Hojoon. He had went back to his book.

“Why didn’t the security intervene?” I asked. It had been bothering me that they hadn’t stopped them, just watching. They had stood up, but that had been the extent of their movement. Hojoon merely shrugged.

“They step in when blows are thrown. Hansol’s head is gonna be tender, but he’s fine.” So that was his name. The poor thing didn’t look like he belonged here at all.

“Who is the other guy, Xero?” I asked.

“Xero is Hansol’s best friend. They’re usually always together. Xero probably went to the bathroom otherwise Nakta wouldn’t have even dared to look at Hansol wrong.” Hojoon turned the page of his book.

“He’s scared of Xero?”

 “Almost everyone is scared of Xero, and they should be.” Hojoon replied.

“Why?” Hojoon sighed and closed his book, putting it down on his lap.

“Well, only the officials really know the details, but apparently Xero killed a bunch of people – like a lot of people, at the foster home he’d been in last. Only three people survived: Xero, Hansol, and a kid named Sangwon or Yano as he likes to be called. He’s here somewhere, but he’s terrified of being in the same room as Xero, and he absolutely refuses to say anything about what happened that night. Traumatized.” Hojoon explained.

“If he killed people, shouldn’t he be in prison?” I asked.

“Well he would be, but they labeled him as mentally unstable and tossed him in here. He won’t be leaving, ever, so it’s pretty close.”

As Hojoon returned to his book, I took in the information. The notion that a murderer was here was terrifying. I’m surprised Nakta had even stood up to him at all. Xero and Hansol were still sitting on the couch, in their own little world. Hansol was laying down, with his head in Xero’s lap. Xero was running his fingers through Hansol’s hair, and glaring at Nakta.

Hansol was speaking, well his mouth was moving, but I figured the only person who could hear him was Xero. Hansol didn’t look shaken up anymore, instead seeming way more relaxed now that Xero was with him, taking care of him.

I stored the information about the redhead for later, and then got up when there was another bell. That meant it was dinner time. The cafeteria was in the main building, and this was where I got to see the girls who had been cooped up in their dorm building. I would only see them during school hours and dinner. Hopefully I had gym with them or something. Whatever the case may be, I was curious about the food they served here.

Apparently, the money they got for keeping the mentally ill people made for damn good chefs. It wasn’t anything extensive, but tonight appeared to be seafood night. Considering we were in Busan, I figured this would happen often. The cafeteria had a handful of tables taking up the space. Every table had three center pieces, but they were bigger than the normal servings I got at home.

Considering there were a lot of people here, I understood the need for bigger bowls. Hojoon didn’t seem to mind me sitting next to him, and I was seriously beginning to wonder why he was here. He had been so calm since I met him. What had he done? I doubted he was mentally disabled, so this place was probably his third strike. I was surprised when Xero and Hansol took up the seats across from us, but Hojoon didn’t bat a lash.

“Hi Hojoon hyung.” Hansol greeted him happily whilst Xero smiled at him. He didn’t look like a murderer when he smiled. Hojoon returned their greeting, sounding almost as friendly as Hansol. With their greeting out of the way, Hansol turned and stared at me. It caught me off guard how friendly he looked. What had he done to end up here? Maybe he was traumatized like that kid Sangwon. But then that would mean he’d avoid Xero and those two seemed like they were one person.

“What’s your name?” Hansol asked, his voice and his baby face making me wonder just how old he was. “My name is Byungjoo.” I replied.

“Byungjoo,” Hansol said softly, testing my name out.

“Joo Joo,” he said after repeating my name a few times. I wasn’t expecting the nickname, but Hansol had settled with it, and I had a feeling there was no changing that. It wasn’t worth the energy anyway.

“Joo Joo, my name is Hansol and this is Xero.” Hansol introduced, sounding extremely happy. What pills was he on?

“Thanks for helping out my hyung back then. I wasn’t expecting camel face to touch him.” Hansol was older than Xero? Wow.

“No problem. I don’t like bullies. What was his problem anyway?” I asked, surprised by how fast Hansol’s expression darkened.

“He’s mean,” was all Hansol supplied me with, huffing and glaring at the bowl of rice before him.

“He’s just a bully who is obsessed with that weird doll he sleeps with,” Xero said, running his hand up Hansol’s back. That seemed to bring Hansol out of the haze the mention of Nakta put him in. He was smiling and childish again in seconds. Maybe he was bipolar?


	3. Chapter 3

After that, things were pretty simple. We ate in relative quiet which was nice. I had assumed Hansol would be quite the talker, but he seemed way more interested in his meal. Things went smoothly and we were on our way, heading back to the Commons. The time there was quick and easy before I was lying on my bed.

“Hojoon?” when the other looked up, I kept going, “How old are you?”

Hojoon hummed softly, writing in his notebook. Apparently I wouldn’t be escaping homework.

“I’m twenty-one. I’ll be twenty-two in October. You?” he asked, tilting his head.

“Me? I’m twenty. I was born in January.” Hojoon chuckled to himself.

“Guess that makes me hyung,” he said, and I nodded. It was true.

“What about Xero and Hansol?” I asked next.

Hojoon paused then, putting his pencil down. He looked at the ceiling, and I’m assuming he was thinking about it.

“Xero is your age, he was born in February. Hansol however, is your hyung.” That definitely caught me off guard. How old could Hansol be? Hojoon must’ve noticed my expression, because he laughed softly.

“Hansol looks and acts young, but he’s twenty-one like me. We’ll only be the same age for a while though. He was born in ’93.” Hojoon explained.

So Hansol was grown, I seriously thought he was a teenager. His voice and face made me want to think the guy was still a toddler or something and yet here he was, a hyung. Wow.

“Should I be scared of Xero?” I asked, remembering the conversation from earlier. Hojoon looked at me, biting his lip.

“Do you have intentions of hurting Hansol?” he asked instead, confusing me. I had nothing against the guy. The nickname was a little annoying, but it really didn’t bother me.

“No.” I replied and Hojoon shrugged.

“Then Xero has no beef with you. He doesn’t do much here, just sticks with Hansol and goes to class.” Hojoon explained.

“Do bad things even happen here?” I asked.

“Oh yeah. There are a lot of at risk people here, and eventually it becomes too much for them. There’s also rumors that someone here is killing people off. There’s no evidence or anything, so no one gives it much thought. People die, there’s nothing we can do about that.”

That was true, and a bit unnerving, but if there was no evidence, then there was probably no killer here. At least, not a killer who had been killing recently.

“If you don’t mind me asking-” my question was cut off when someone knocked on the door. Hojoon didn’t even bother standing up, just called for them to come in. The door opened and Hansol peeked in, his gaze zeroing in on Hojoon.

“Hyung, can I come in?” Hansol’s voice was soft and gentle as he asked, his gaze lowering at the end, like he was waiting for rejection or something.

“Sure.” Hojoon replied.

Hansol smiled immediately and walked in, Xero following him. Maybe I should’ve expected that. Hansol went and climbed on Hojoon’s bed, Xero doing the same. Whereas Hansol wrapped around Hojoon like an extension, Xero seemed content placing his head on Hojoon’s lap. Hojoon didn’t seem bothered by the invasion, just sighing and allowing them to take up his space.

“So, what were you guys talking about?” Hansol asked curiously, his chin on Hojoon’s shoulder.

“Byungjoo was going to ask me something.” Hojoon replied, “Then you two decided to attach yourselves to my person.” His words were meant to sound annoyed, but Hojoon merely sounded resigned.

“Did hyung finish his homework?” Xero asked. Hojoon huffed, but nodded. The two boys grinned and simply nuzzled into him further. He let it happen.

“What were you going to ask me?” Hojoon asked, turning towards me after the two had settled.

“Well, if you don’t mind or anything, I was just wondering why you were in here? You seem so levelheaded and calm.” I trailed off a little at Hojoon’s smile.

“I don’t mind at all. I’m not mentally insane or anything. It’s more like the outside world wasn’t my thing. Too loud.” The way he said it made it seem like more than the noises I was accustomed to.

“My mind moves too fast y’know? And being out there makes my head hurt. I used to get serious chronic headaches, so my parents found a place that would take good care of me, and here I am. I could leave whenever I wanted, but honestly, I think if I left it would be too loud. I’d probably die or something.” Hojoon was awfully nonchalant when he said that.

“I tried leaving once, but everything just bombarded me at once. I never knew eyes could bleed until then, and now here I am. It’s not as high class as what my parents want for me, but it’s relatively quiet.”

I nodded, taking it in. It must be horrible, not being able to be out in the city. Then again, from his perspective, it seemed awfully painful.

“Do you, is there a name to what’s happening to you?” Hojoon shook his head.

“Not that I know of. But then again, I haven’t really tried finding a name for it, let alone a cure. I like it here, so here’s where I’ll stay.”

“Wow.” I honestly didn’t know what else to say, but Hojoon just laughed.

“It’s not that bad here. I’ve got friends,” at this he flicked Xero in the forehead. The younger merely wrinkled his nose before relaxing again. Hansol giggled.

“And the courses are challenging. I have no reason to act out, so they let me walk out on the garden when the need suits me. I’m happy.”

I was happy for him, really I was. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t hate it here as much as I thought. I know not everyone was like Hojoon, but at least I had an awesome roommate. I don’t think I would’ve made it rooming with a sociopath.

“What are you in for?” Hansol suddenly asked. In his current position with his face buried in Hojoon’s shoulder, I could only see his sharp cat-like eyes, watching me intensely. From this angle, he didn’t look that much like a child at all. It was kind of unnerving actually, but then he tilted his head and the child like qualities came back. It was confusing.

“I-” I hesitated, unsure. Xero laughed from Hojoon’s lap and turned to face me.

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want.” He shrugged as much as he could in his position.

“But if you do, your secret’s safe with us. Well, I mean the staff too, but they’re supposed to know.” He explained, shooting me a smile. I shifted a bit, uncomfortable.

“I don’t feel very comfortable talking about it. It’s not like I don’t want to tell you!” I rushed out, noticing the hurt look on Hansol’s face.

“I just, bad memories.” Xero and Hojoon nodded, but Hansol didn’t do anything.

“I guess that’s understandable,” Xero said.

“Not like we could force it out of you or anything,” Hansol said, and his tone was, I didn’t really know how to feel about it honestly. Instead of thinking about it too hard, I just shrugged it off. Hansol had shifted his attention to Xero, looking down at him from Hojoon’s shoulder.

“I’m tired Xero.” He informed the other. Xero laughed and sat up, getting out of Hojoon’s personal space. He didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Bye hyung, Byungjoo-ssi,” Xero said, heading for the door.

“Bye hyung, Joo Joo,” Hansol smiled and waved cutely before following Xero out, the door shutting behind them softly. When they were gone, I turned to look at Hojoon. He had continued working on his homework as if nothing had happened.

“Are they always that touchy?” I asked.

“Yes. It’s better to just let them do it. They’ll get it out of their system for the time being, find someone who’s more resistant, but not unwilling.” Hojoon explained. 


	4. Chapter 4

After that, I decided it was a good time to take a shower. I mean, it had been a long day and I might as well get acquainted. Hojoon waved me off and then I was on my way. The bathroom was empty when I came in and I took the stall at the end. I was pleased to find that the water was hot.

As I showered, I wondered what the classes would be like. This place was home to teenagers and adults, so this was probably like a college for lost causes and the mentally unstable. Were the classes difficult? Or maybe they were easy so they didn’t trigger any students. I figured they probably separated classes due to the reason we were in here. With that thought, I continued my shower. At one point, I’m pretty sure someone else came in, but I wasn’t worried about it, not at all.

However, when whoever had entered started speaking, I immediately recognized the voices.

 “Do you think that camel will bother you again?” Xero. Which meant Hansol was here. However, as interesting as that was, I realized that besides my own, only one other shower head was on. Maybe one of them was just there, probably sitting beside the sinks.

“Probably. He has an issue with people like us.” Hansol replied airily. People like us? What did that mean?

“True. Disgusting filth.” Xero sounded annoyed and his tone was nothing like it was when they were in our dorm earlier.

“Yes he is. But there’s nothing we can do about that.” Hansol sounded annoyed as well.

“We could always teach him a lesson.” Xero suggested, but I had no idea what that meant.

Hansol didn’t answer and I figured it was because he was scared of Nakta. I remembered his facial expression before when Nakta had a vice grip on his hair. He had been utterly terrified. Xero however, didn’t seem the least bit afraid of Nakta.

“That is true, but what happened last time is too recent.” Hansol replied. What were these two talking about?

“You think someone will find out?” someone snorted and I wasn’t sure which one had made the noise.

“No, of course not.” Hansol answered the question. There was movement and the sound of a bottle opening.

“You’re not tired of playing?” Xero asked suddenly. Was this a change in topic?

“No. Not yet. You should know, better than anyone, how much I like playing.” Maybe the topic of discussion did change. But now, I had no idea what they were talking about.

“I do, and I love it, but I hate what happens when you play.” Xero responded, sounding upset now. Hansol didn’t answer at first, and I strained my ears to listen. I knew I was eavesdropping and that was horrible, but I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t know what was happening anyway, so it wouldn’t hurt anyone.

“I’m okay Xero, it doesn’t hurt. If it did, I’d tell you.” Did the topic change again?

“Fine, can you end your game early? Please hyung?” was he begging? I’m pretty sure it was Hansol who hummed.

“As you wish.” Although Hansol sounded like he was giving in, I got the feeling that wasn’t it. Hansol was allowing whatever game they were talking about to end, but only because he wanted it to. What was going on here?

“Thank you,” Xero said, his voice lowering.

“No problem. Now, let’s go. I was serious when I said I was tired.” Hansol replied.

After that, there was movement and then I heard the door to the bathroom open and close. When they were gone, I sighed. I had no idea what that conversation was about at all. Instead of hurting my head by trying to figure it out, I pushed it aside and finished up my shower. I had school tomorrow.

The first day of school was easy. I fell into the rhythm of things, and was lulled into school life. Xero shared plenty of classes with me considering we were in the same year. Hojoon was older than me, so I didn’t see him around at all.

At lunch, they served pizza, and then we were back to class. The classes were pretty spacious – maybe there were claustrophobic people here. Whatever the case may be, I liked the open feeling as the teacher lectured. All thoughts of what I’d eavesdropped on earlier left my mind until I was heading back to the dorm building. I was one of the last to empty out of the main hall, and I was right under the stairs when someone screamed.

Immediately I looked up and saw Nakta falling down the stairs. I was horrified as he tumbled down, hitting the floor with a disturbingly loud thud. I didn’t know what to do, not really, but people were already moving towards him.

I looked up, wondering what had happened, and I met Hansol’s gaze. Hansol and Xero were standing at the top of the stairs, leaning down to look at Nakta. Hansol looked absolutely terrified, his eyes watery. His small hands were covering his mouth and he looked really pale. Xero’s face was completely blank.

I looked away from them and took in Nakta in between the spaces the people provided. He was definitely dead, his head turned at an odd angle. I figured he died during his tumble down the stairs. His leg was bent at an odd angle as well, the bone protruding from his jeans. Security had arrived by now and were pushing the terrified students away. I looked up again and saw that Hansol and Xero were gone.

Later on, I learned that the cameras recording that area hadn’t been on since lunch ended. I had the feeling that was intentional. Hojoon merely shook his head when he learned of what happened. I was still trying to figure out why Hansol and Xero had been at the top of the stairs. Maybe they had showed up after someone screamed, or maybe they had been there with Nakta. My mind brought up Xero’s history and my stomach began to churn.

I didn’t get too much time to think on it before there was a soft knock on the door. It was Hansol and Xero. Hansol looked normal, the color had returned to his face. They immediately took up the space on Hojoon’s bed, the elder simply moving his books out of the way. He didn’t have any homework anyway.

“Did you guys hear about what happened to Nakta?” Hojoon asked.

“We saw it,” Hansol said, his voice soft, eyes downcast. At that moment, I refused to believe Hansol had anything to do with it. He looked as if he was ready to curl in on himself at any moment. I felt sick just thinking about how I had been so ready to blame them for Nakta’s misfortune.

Hojoon ran his fingers through Hansol’s hair, returning the affection the two had come for. Maybe that’s why they were here in the first place. So shaken by what they’d witnessed, they needed someone to comfort them. I felt even worse. Xero stretched out on Hojoon’s bed and watched the two interact.

Hansol seemed content by Hojoon’s ministrations before his bubbly persona returned. When it did, I found myself with a lap full of Hansol. The boy – I kept forgetting he was older than me, leaned over me until his face filled my vision entirely. His sharp cat-like eyes were attentive and focused, making it hard to look away. I felt myself blushing against my will.

“I’ve heard some rumors Joo Joo,” Hansol said softly, and I felt myself tensing up. “What? What rumors?” I asked.

“Rumors about why you’re here.” He replied easily, smiling. I froze then, confused and wary.

“Who told you?” I asked, my mind racing. This was only my second day and rumors of my past were already circulating?

“The staff. I can be really quiet when I want, and if you stay still long enough, they forget you’re there.” Hansol replied, shrugging a delicate shoulder. He had been eavesdropping then. That kind of made me feel better about when I eavesdropped on them. Kind of.

“What did you hear?” I asked, biting my lip.

Hansol smiled more and his eyes were bright now. His hands, which had been on my shoulders to keep himself up, squeezed a little.

“Did you really burn down your house?” he asked, sounding way too excited for such a topic. I hesitated, unsure of how much he actually knew.

“Don’t worry Joo Joo, you can tell us anything. We won’t judge.” Why did I feel comforted by that? Maybe that’s why I told the truth.

“I did,” I began, missing the way Hansol’s eyes glittered, “but it wasn’t on purpose.” I finished. Hansol tilted his head to the side, confused.

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“I- it was late and I had been so tired. However, I got hungry and tried to cook. I ended up falling asleep. When I woke up, there was fire everywhere and naturally, my first instinct was to get out.” My voice lowered and broke a little.

“I didn’t know anyone was home. My foster mom told me that everyone was out, that I would be home alone. I didn’t know the others had come home from their trip early. I found out later when the fire department came and found their bodies. All of them had been asleep, exhausted from the trip.”

 I didn’t get to see their bodies, but my foster mother’s hysterical cries was more than enough for me. Hansol was humming softly, his face thoughtful.

“Wow. So why are you here?” I almost forgot Hojoon and Xero were here.


	5. Chapter 5

Hojoon was the one who had asked the question. Xero looked like he was sleeping.

“Well, that had been my third strike. My other two were in schools, standing up for kids who couldn’t do it themselves.”

Hansol made another noise in his throat, and I was too busy remembering my past that I didn’t see the amused and aroused expression on his face.

“So you like saving people.” Hojoon murmured.

“I hate bullies” was the only response I could think of.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. It was an accident,” Hansol said, leaning back so his hands weren’t on my shoulders anymore. I had gotten used to his weight on top of me.

“That’s not what the judge said.” I replied, more than a little bitter. I couldn’t blame him though, I did deserve to be here. It was my fault four people were dead and my foster mother was distraught.

“Interesting,” was all Hansol said, the intensity of his gaze making me a little nervous.

Another emotion flitted through me, but I figured that was because Hansol was straddling me. I didn’t like guys. At least that’s what I forced myself to believe. Shortly after, Hansol was removing himself from my body, returning to Hojoon’s body.

“Must be hard,” Xero mused, “living with the weight of what happened on your shoulders.” He finished. I wondered if he was saying this from experience, but he didn’t look particularly upset about anything. He was completely relaxed, content with himself.

After that night, I felt a little bit closer with the three of them. None of them judged me for my past transgressions. On one hand, it was probably because Hojoon was so easy going and Xero had a heavy past of his own. I wasn’t too sure why Hansol accepted me, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

Class took my mind off of what happened to Nakta. Actually, no one really talked about what happened to him at all, as if this wasn’t the first time something like this happened. It probably wasn’t, and that unnerved me a bit.

It was about two weeks later that I had an accidental run in with Sangwon, the third survivor from Xero and Hansol’s foster home.

It was completely accidental on my part. I had no idea he’d be in the bathroom when I chose to visit it. I had never even seen the kid up close beforehand, so I had no idea he was on the same floor as me. He actually wasn’t, but the bathroom on his floor was full.

“You’re the one Hansol hyung and Xero hyung like.” Was the first thing he said when he got a good look at my face.

“What?” I had no idea what he was talking about, naturally, so I stood there like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment.

“Be careful.” Was his response.

“I- who are you?” I asked, my mind a jumbled up mess by his accusation. Or at least, he made it sound like it was.

“My name is Sangwon. Everyone calls me Yano.” He introduced himself, his baby face taking me in carefully.

“Byungjoo.” I replied, not wanting to start off on the wrong foot. It seemed like I had already done something wrong in his books, and I didn’t want to mess anything else up.

“What did you mean, earlier?” I asked, forgetting that I had come here to shower. Yano shrugged and sat down by the sink.

“Hansol hyung and Xero hyung like you. I’d advise that you be careful.” He replied. Although I heard him clearly, I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Do you mind explaining what you mean?” I asked, a little hesitant. Hojoon told me the kid was probably traumatized, I didn’t want to make it worse.

“Hansol hyung and Xero hyung like to play games. I hear they ended a game not too long ago. Camel face,” he said, waving his hand in front of his face. He obviously meant Nakta. My mind brought up when I’d eavesdropped earlier. They couldn’t have meant killing Nakta when they were talking earlier, did they? Yano laughed softly, getting my attention.

“They haven’t started their game with you then, or they’re starting slow.” It didn’t sound like a question. Either way, I was confused, and I informed him of such. He laughed again.

“I can’t tell you too much or Hansol hyung will find out.” Yano shivered and I saw fear cross his features.

“I try to warn everyone they play games with. It seems like he wants to keep you though, so I doubt you have anything to worry about. He takes care of his possessions.” He explained, but it still didn’t make any sense. I noticed that he mentioned Hansol, but that confused me. He seemed scared of him. Shouldn’t he be scared of Xero?

“What do you mean keep me? Who is he?” I was confused by the entire conversation, but these were the things my mind latched onto.

“You’ll see. The only thing I can warn you about, is being interested in anyone else. He doesn’t like when his playthings show interest in anyone but him.” I was getting really confused now, and a little upset.

“What do you mean? I don’t even like guys.” Yano’s eyebrow rose and he shrugged, pushing himself off the counter.

“You will. In the meantime, keep in mind what I said. It was nice meeting you, hopefully you don’t lose your mind.” Yano laughed as he walked out, leaving me alone.

 Maybe he wasn’t all there, it wouldn’t be surprising. However, no matter how much I tried to convince myself that the kid was nuts, I was still shaken by what he’d told me. I couldn’t blame myself for rushing my shower before going back to the safety of my room. Hansol and Xero weren’t there, and Hojoon was sleeping peacefully. I crawled into my bed, trying not to think too hard on what Yano had told me. Sleep didn’t come easily that night.

I was more than a little cautious around the duo after that. I tried to keep it discreet, but sometimes I would catch Hansol looking at me with a thoughtful expression, almost frowning. I don’t even think I wanted to know what the two of them were whispering about.

 I considered avoiding them entirely, but this was a small place, and I definitely didn’t want to get on their bad side. I still wasn’t sure why Yano seemed afraid of Hansol, but I knew if I got on his bad side, I’d be on Xero’s bad side as well. I didn’t want anything like that to happen, so I kept up the ruse that I hadn’t met Yano, and that the two didn’t freak me out at all.

As I tried to separate myself from them, I found myself getting interested in someone. Her name was Kim Yoohyun, but she went by Chai. I had no idea why, but she seemed to really like it, so I wouldn’t deny her something like that.

She was absolutely adorable, and actually shorter than me. She was here because she was bulimic and suicidal. I thought that me being around her wouldn’t do her any good, but she seemed to like being around me, and I liked being around her. She was sweet and adorable, and I figured she could do no wrong. I had completely forgotten about Yano’s warning, not really taking him as seriously as I should’ve.

 At first, I didn’t notice the way Chai started to seem more and more nervous to be around me. It was hard to do so when, for the first time, I felt close to someone. It had been hard for me to make friends considering my background tended to scare them off. I definitely hadn’t considered I’d find someone to date here, so I overlooked it.

It wasn’t until, a good month and a half later, that I found a note tucked into the shrubbery behind the bench we usually sit on. This wasn’t the first time we’ve passed notes back and forth, but I hadn’t remembered her mentioning she wouldn’t show up. Shrugging, I unfolded the small piece of paper, still confused, but not upset.

The note was simple, Chai wanted to meet me in one of the classrooms. All of the classrooms on the first floor would be empty, and I figured that’s why she picked one. I looked around, noting there were only a few people walking about, admiring the flowers the school did so well to take care of.

With a shrug, I stood and made my way towards the location, dropping the note into the garbage as I passed it. Inside the classroom, Chai looked nervous, looking up and down the hallway when she let me in. She looked smaller, and her eyes were bloodshot. What had happened to her?

“Chai? What’s wrong?” Chai turned to face me, and I noticed her hands were shaking.

“I’m scared.” She was whispering, and I had no idea why.

“Of what? What’s wrong?” I reached out for her hands, relaxing when she didn’t pull them away. They didn’t stop shaking, and I noticed that her skin was cold.

“I don’t think we should hang out anymore,” her voice seemed even lower and she wouldn’t look me in the eye. I frowned, trying to find a reason as to why she wouldn’t want to be close to me anymore. Although we both admitted to being attracted to each other, we hadn’t tried anything. We were here to get better, and I figured relationships were a good thing. Apparently I was wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

Instead of saying that, I coaxed Chai into sitting down behind one of the desks, taking a seat next to her.

“Chai, tell me what happened, what’s wrong?” Chai took a deep breath, the air stuttering as it came out. “He came to me,” she began, her eyes wide and unseeing.

“I didn’t think he was serious at first. He doesn’t look like much, and he had just appeared.”

“Chai, you’re not making sense. What are you talking about?” Chai took another deep breath, and this time she sounded calmer.

“It started a few weeks ago. I had been waiting for you, by our bench,” Chai was wringing and unwringing her hands, staring hard at the desk in front of her.

“I have no idea where he came from. One minute I was alone, waiting for you, and the next, he was sitting there. He told me to back off, not to get close to you. At first, I didn’t think he was serious, so I told him that I wouldn’t. I told him you were my friend and I could be around you if I wanted to. He didn’t like that.” Chai’s breath hitched and my stomach dropped.

“He didn’t say anything after that, just left. A week later though,” Chai paused and whimpered, pressing her hands to her mouth as she tried to calm herself down.

“I woke up, and he was there! He was sitting on my bed. He covered my mouth, saying he didn’t want me to wake up my roommate.” Her breaths started coming faster and I didn’t know what to do. I just waited for her to finish her story, feeling sick.

“He said that if I didn’t leave you alone, he,” it sounded like she was about to cry, but she kept going. “He said he’d kill me. I believe him Byungjoo, I really do. I was so scared! But I know that because I’m on watch, that there’s a camera in my room. However,” her breaths hitched again and she pushed her hair behind her ear.

“No guards came. He threatened me, and then I was asleep again. I went to the guard who had been watching the tape, but there was nothing there! It showed me sleeping peacefully. He said it was a nightmare, but it wasn’t! I know it wasn’t.”

Chai was crying now, tears streaming down her face. I couldn’t do anything but hug her, feeling like I wanted to throw up as she clung to me.

“I’m so scared Byungjoo. There’s been notes in my locker, telling me to leave you alone and, I tried to be strong, really I did, but then,” Chai sniffed, her words rushing a little.

“This morning, when I woke up, my arms hurt. When I checked,” she paused and pushed away. I could only watch as she pulled her sleeves up.

Horrified, I stared as she unwrapped her arms, showing the words “STAY AWAY” written jaggedly yet precisely into her skin, a word on each arm, red and angry. The wounds were starting to scab over and Chai was quick to rewrap them, her tears streaming down her face.

“The guards say no one was there, whatever they used to carve this is long gone. My roommate was peacefully asleep. I can’t do this Byungjoo. You’re a great friend, but this,” she trailed off, but I understood. I wouldn’t want anything like that happening to me either. The feeling in my gut hadn’t lessened, I still felt like I would throw up. I also had a feeling I knew who was responsible.

“Do you know their name? The person who did this to you?” Chai shook her head, hiccupping.

“If you saw him, would you recognize him?” Chai’s eyes were wide and horrified, but she nodded. I stood up, grabbing her upper arm gently.

“C’mon,” I said. Chai was shaking her head, eyes still wide.

“No, no. Where are we going? I’m really scared Byungjoo.” Chai’s voice trembled, but she followed me.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.” I had been unaware of what was happening, but now I knew.

Chai numbly followed me as I went to the Commons in the male dorm building. Surprisingly, the place was relatively empty, but then again, it was movie day. However, the person I was looking for was here. Xero and Hansol were sitting on the couch, watching what appeared to be cartoons.

Hojoon hyung was there too, but he was sitting in his usual corner, book in hand. He noticed us first considering Xero and Hansol’s back was to us, but I ignored him. He wasn’t the one I wanted.

Xero and Hansol looked surprised when Chai and I were suddenly blocking their vision.

“What are you doing?” Xero demanded, but I ignored him in favor of Chai. She had shrunk in on herself and I knew I was correct. One of the two sitting on the couch had done this, and I was going to find out who. Chai looked absolutely terrified and I could feel her trembling.

“Who did it?” I asked Chai, not taking my eyes off of the two. However, I looked away when Chai didn’t answer. Turning, I looked to see her staring in utter terror at Hansol. Hansol? I seriously thought it had been Xero.

I turned to see Hansol’s response to this, but he just looked confused as he looked between the both of us.

“What’s going on?” he asked softly, confusion lacing his voice. I was still trying to figure out if it had been Hansol or if Chai was confused.

“Do you know her? Do you recognize her?” I asked the two of them, still unsure, but not against Chai’s judgment. She was trying her hardest to hide behind me, but I needed to know what was going on. Hojoon hyung had abandoned his book, now standing close to me as he watched.

“I’ve seen her around, but I don’t know her. Can you move?” Xero still sounded annoyed, gesturing at the television I was currently blocking, but I didn’t budge. Instead, I turned my gaze on Hansol who still looked confused by the entire ordeal.

“No, I don’t know her. What’s going on?” Hansol asked, looking between Chai and myself. In that moment, I really wanted to believe that Hansol truly was clueless, but the way Chai stared at him with complete and utter fear made something in the pit of my stomach twist. Had he done this?

“Can I go Byungjoo? I’m so scared.” Chai whimpered and I realized she was rightfully upset. I glared at Hansol, aware that I didn’t have any evidence to report him, but that didn’t change that Chai seemed to think he was the one who did it. Hansol looked surprised and just stared after me as I took Chai out of the room. She was shaking like a leaf as I walked her back to her dorm building.

“I’m so sorry this happened Chai.” Chai smiled, but it was shaky and she was still trembling.

“If it’s okay, I think we shouldn’t talk anymore.” Although my heart hurt at the notion that she didn’t want to be around me anymore, I understood her reasoning. I nodded and Chai looked relieved as she went inside her building, not looking back once.

After that, I returned to my dorm, unsure if I could even face Hansol after what had just occurred. Chai seemed sure it was him, and so I believed her. There was a little voice in the back of my head that wanted to blame it on someone else.

All this time, Hansol had been so sweet and accepting. How could he have done something like this? I so badly wanted to point the blame at Xero. He was the one with the murderous history. Hansol had just been at the wrong place at the wrong time, or at least that’s what the rumors said.

The true story was locked up with the files of everyone else. I bit my lip, so badly wishing it hadn’t been Hansol she’d been staring at. He had been so nice and yet, he had stooped so low because I hadn’t spent time with him.


	7. Chapter 7

Later on when I was in my room, I heard a soft knock on the door. At first, I wanted to believe Chai had returned, but I knew better than that. Instead, when I opened the door, I found Hansol on the other side. He looked incredibly small as he stared down at his feet. I hadn’t looked at his outfit today, and considering the circumstances, it was quite granted.

However, the sweater he was wearing seemed to swamp him, making him seem even smaller. He was playing with his hands, which were barely visible because of how long the sleeves were. Hansol glanced up from underneath his hair, his voice small and timid.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked, shifting from one foot to the other. For a moment there, I second guessed Chai’s deduction. With Hansol standing before me like he was, there was no way he could do something like that.

“Did you hurt Chai?” I asked. Hansol didn’t answer, instead, looking back down at his feet, shifting.

“Hansol.” My voice sounded stern, but I couldn’t help myself. I really needed to know what was going on, and if Hansol had really hurt someone, especially because I hadn’t given him any attention, I didn’t want to be friends with him.

Hansol looked up, but just barely, and I barely saw him nod. My heart sunk then, because really, how could someone like him do something like that? And to Chai? She’s the sweetest person in the world. In that moment, my temper got the best of me.

“How could you do something like that?” my voice was loud and I completely ignored the way Hansol flinched, shrinking into himself.

“The world doesn’t revolve around you, Hansol. I will make friends if I want to, and the fact that you hurt someone because I wasn’t giving you the attention you wanted, it sickens me.” Hansol had ducked his head down, allowing me to let my anger out on him. I was on a roll here and maybe some of my anger was misguided, but I truly was disgusted by his behavior.

“I can’t be around you anymore, the mere sight of you makes my stomach roll. Let’s make this the last time we acknowledge each other. Leave me alone Hansol, I refuse to be friends with someone who would do something like that.”

I had finished my rant and Hansol hadn’t looked up, not even once. Initially, I wanted to slam the door in his face, but I needed to make sure he understood. Slowly, Hansol looked up and for a moment, I felt horrible. He looked sad, like hurt kitten sad. His nose was red and his eyes were watery, tears sliding down his cheeks.

“You don’t want to be my friend?” he asked, his voice soft and hesitant.

 “No, I don’t. I want you to stay away from me. You ruined my chance with Chai. Who knows if I’ll be able to make friends here anymore?”

“You like her?” Hansol asked, sniffing. I wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but seeing as it was my last one with him, I decided to indulge him.

“Of course I do! Why else would I talk to her all the time? And now, now she’s terrified to be around me, because of you. So I’m going to do the easy thing by cutting you out of my life.”

“Cut me out?” Hansol asked, but his voice was so low I barely heard it. Hansol looked up then, tears still sliding down his cheek.

“You picked her over me?” what kind of question was that? Apparently, it was rhetorical.

“Fine, I understand.” Hansol nodded and turned away. I watched him go, a little surprised. It was that easy? Hopefully, getting Chai to talk to me again would be that easy too.

After that, I didn’t see Hansol for a while. He didn’t come to our room anymore, nor was he in the Commons. I didn’t even see him during lunch or dinner. I did however, see Xero often. Well, we did share classes considering we were the same age therefore in the same grade.

However, he ignored me. He didn’t even seem to remember I existed. Because of this, I figured that Hansol had accepted the end of our friendship, how short it was, and had moved on. That wasn’t the case, but a person can hope, right?

It took some convincing, but during the time of Hansol’s disappearance, I had gotten Chai to talk to me again. She had been hesitant, but I wasn’t the only one who seemed to notice Hansol’s disappearance. It took a while before we started hanging out as much as we used to, but before long, we were back to normal.

I tried to ignore the fact that she always wore long sleeve shirts or jackets now. That wasn’t something I wanted to think about. After spending some time with Chai, I made my way to my dorm, smiling when I saw Hojoon sitting on his bed. He didn’t smile back.

“What did you do?” he asked, his tone letting me know I had done something horrible.

“What? What’s wrong?” I asked, turning towards him in confusion.

“With Hansol, what did you do?” he demanded. Normally, Hojoon wore glasses, but today, they were gone. Instead of looking an awful lot like Harry Potter, he looked more like an adorable koala. His tone and the look in his eye went against it though.

“I just, I told him I didn’t want to be friends with him anymore. He seemed to understand, I haven’t seen him in a while.” I informed him. I had momentarily forgot about Hansol considering I hadn’t seen him and it was going on two weeks since I’d seen him last.

Hojoon groaned and rubbed his face hard.

“No.” he moaned, finally dropping his hands. I still didn’t understand what was wrong.

“You haven’t seen him because he’s been under heavy surveillance!” for a minute, I just stared blankly at him, but then it clicked. Hansol had tried to kill himself.

“I- how long has he been?” I kind of trailed off, but it was obvious what I was asking.

“He was admitted the morning after you brought that one girl to the Commons,” Hojoon said. It was my fault. I sat down on my bed hard, staring at the wall across from me. What have I done?

“I don’t understand,” I began, feeling numb.

“He cried sure, but I had a feeling he was sensitive. But after that, he seemed fine.” I wanted to make an excuse for it, push the blame on someone else. Hansol had hurt Chai, and so it was only right to cut all ties with him. However, him trying to kill himself wasn’t something I’d thought he’d do.

“Hansol doesn’t take rejection well. Also, if you hadn’t noticed, besides me, he only has Xero. He was an orphan, his parents died and he was sent to foster home after foster home. People took him in only to give him back a short while later. He’s got some serious abandonment issues amongst other things.” Hojoon explained. He sounded tired as he rubbed his face again.

I didn’t know how to feel, let alone what to say. I didn’t know Hansol well, and yet I knew the guilt would eat me alive. He had tried to take his life all because I hadn’t wanted to be his friend. Hojoon saw how much the information affected me and spent a good ten minutes reassuring me it hadn’t been my fault. He told me that Hansol more than likely had been feeling a lot of stress way before I came and he had endured so much. As much as he tried to reassure me, I now realized why Xero ignored my existence.


	8. Chapter 8

Another week passed and I slowly accepted Hojoon’s excuses. I needed to otherwise I’d probably really lose it. When I went to the Commons, I was very surprised to see Hansol there. Not only that, but his hair wasn’t dark anymore. Instead, it was a light brown and it nearly fell over his eyes. Hansol was wearing a hoodie that was much bigger than he was as he curled up against Xero. He looked cheerful and happy as he giggled at whatever Xero was saying.

For a minute, I thought I was hallucinating until Hojoon took it upon himself to pinch me. It hurt. I kind of wanted to speak to Hansol, to apologize or something, but Hojoon pulled me away. Hansol had glanced in my direction, but it seemed like he looked straight through me as he turned back towards Xero, nuzzling into him.

Although Hansol was back and apparently happier than ever, Xero still ignored my entire existence. I couldn’t blame him considering I did inform Hansol I no longer wanted to be his friend. I had already acknowledged Hansol and Xero were a package deal, but it was still kind of weird when they didn’t sit across from us at lunch.

They didn’t burst into our dorm and cuddle into Hojoon like the koala he was. I think that Hojoon missed them, but he didn’t say anything. I didn’t bring it up and neither did he, but I did feel bad. Because I had cut them off, Hojoon was getting hurt by it.

More often than not, I was with Hojoon, which meant he couldn’t spend time with them. I decided to spend more time with Chai in hopes that they would invade his personal space while I was away.

“I heard what happened to Hansol,” Chai said one day as we sat on our bench. I turned towards her, surprised. Chai hadn’t said anything about Hansol or Xero since I found out Hansol was the culprit. In fact, it seemed like she was trying to ignore the fact that they even existed. However, at the moment, Chai looked sad. I didn’t know what to say, so I just stared at her.

“I just, is he okay?” she asked, looking up at me. I shrugged, being completely honest with her.

“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him since,” I trailed off, but Chai got the idea as she nodded, turning to stare at her feet.

“I forgive him,” she said suddenly, catching me off guard. She did what?

“What?” I demanded, turning towards her entirely. Chai shrugged, attempting to curl in on herself the longer I watched her.

“I think, I,” she paused and took a deep breath. “My therapist said forgiveness is a part of getting better. I won’t forget what happened obviously, but I can forgive. I’m not at risk anymore, but it wasn’t too long ago that I was. I think, that maybe he did it because he felt bad about what he did. However, although what happened is horrible, I will heal, I have healed, so death is definitely not the answer.”

Chai’s face was flushed and I realized this was probably the longest she’s talked about a problem. Usually, we talk about school or what we’d do when we leave here. Hell, we even imagined traveling to other countries and what we’d do there.

“I don’t want to hold a grudge against him because the only person it’ll hurt is me. Also, don’t tell my therapist, but it’s much easier forgiving him than forgiving my parents.” She shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

“I mean, we don’t even know each other. The only common factor we had was your attention. He’s nothing compared to the stress my parents cause me.” I definitely noticed the past tense, but didn’t comment on it.

“So I’ll forgive him. I think, I think you should forgive him too. That doesn’t mean you have to be friends with him again, but I notice you talk about your roommate a lot. Hojoon-ssi, he only hung out with them before you came and I’m betting he misses them.” She wasn’t lying. Hojoon never showed it, and would never say it, but I knew he did.

“You know what Chai, I think you’re on to something,” I said, ruffling her hair. Chai made a horribly unattractive indignant squawk as she batted at my hands away, trying to fix her hair. She kind of screeched when she realized I had messed up her hairstyle and I had to run away before she pelted me with pinecones. Aish, she was so aggressive, who knew?

I thought about what Chai said for a while. She was right, but I had no idea how to go about it. Although I was the one who had cut all ties with him, Hansol acted like I didn’t exist at all. I had been thinking about it when the speaker announced that there was a dance coming. A dance? Mental facilities had dances? Then again, they were trying to act like this was a school, so why not throw a dance. I bit my lip, wondering if it was worth going.

A few minutes later I found myself sitting across from Hojoon.

“No, I don’t go to the dances. Too loud,” Hojoon said as he turned the page of his book. He had been sitting in the Commons and had ignored my existence until I asked a question. He usually forgot all about reality when he was reading, but I couldn’t blame him. Books were his escape and I wouldn’t take that away from him. Hansol and Xero were present on the couch again, but Godzilla was playing and I was definitely more interesting than that.

“Shame, I was going to ask you to go with me!” I cried, vaguely wondering where my Oscar was as I pouted at Hojoon, completely missing the way my statement had gotten Hansol’s attention.

“Tragic. Find someone else,” Hojoon said in a bored tone, turning the page again. He read too fast.

“Hyung!” I whined, leaning into him. I was probably being too loud, but I didn’t care.

“Don’t hyung me you brat. Ask someone else, I’m not bleeding out of my ears for you.” Gross. Entirely too gross. I leaned away from him, crossing my arms.

“You hurt my heart.” I informed him, patting the spot as I spoke. I doubted I was the only one who noticed the way Hojoon’s eyes almost fell out of his face with the force of his eye roll.

“You’re full of it. Who do you really plan on taking?” Hojoon asked, finally looking at me over the brim of his book. Finally! Some attention. I bit my lip, humming softly.

“Well, I figured Chai would go. She’s the only girl I talk to.” I informed him, thinking about the way she’d hit me square in the neck with a pinecone.

Maybe I shouldn’t take her, what if she doesn’t like my outfit and throws pinecones at me? She was so lucky she was cute. Hojoon put his book down, kind of glancing over my shoulder before his gaze met mine. I didn’t bother turning to see who he looked at considering it was none of my business. It actually was considering Hansol looked like he was about to throw a temper tantrum at the mention of Chai’s name. I was oblivious. “

So that’s why you’ve been spending so much time out of the dorm. Ask her out yet?” although Hojoon’s voice was playful, his eyes didn’t carry the same emotion. Was he worried? About what? Well, I would probably cry and put snot all over his shirt if she rejected me. I was a bit of a dweeb when it came to taking rejection.

“Well no. I didn’t know about the dance until after she’d pelted me with pinecones. Those hurt by the way, prickly.” I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. Hojoon definitely laughed at me and not with me. After that, I tried to pester him to give me advice on how to ask a girl out. Safe to say, he almost bludgeoned me with his book before I finally scampered off.


	9. Chapter 9

Asking Chai to the dance was easy. We had been sitting at our usual spot and I just had a moment of word vomit that started off with,

“So when you pelted me with those pinecones, I thought that maybe we could go to the dance together? I was worried because you’ve got a sick right arm and your aim in spot on so like if you said no you’d totally annihilate me. You’d be like the terminator without the accent and armed with pinecones and-” I didn’t get to finish before Chai was yanking on my ear. It had turned red throughout my essential vomit of words and when I looked at her, she was smiling warmly.

“Sure, I’ll go with you. And I’m way better than the terminator.” I snorted, informing her that wasn’t true. A pinecone hit me dead in my forehead for that remark. I almost took back my invitation to the dance, but the cute little smile she shot me changed my mind.

The dance was on a Saturday, which worked for me. It wasn’t a formal event or anything so luckily I didn’t have to struggle with what I’d brought with me. Chai looked beautiful with a black dress with a bow on the front, around her waist. I had went for black as well, so we matched, unintentionally of course. Hojoon was true to his word and had locked himself up in our dorm. The dance was in the gym so he was safe from any loud noises.

 Our dorm specifically tended to his needs and most noises barely penetrated those walls. Hansol was there, and he dressed to the nines, although it seemed like he hadn’t even tried. His attire was simple, black skin tight jeans and a matching button up shirt. The shirt itself seemed to sparkle a bit, which definitely seemed like something he would do. Xero wore the same thing, except his shirt was red and it didn’t have glitter on it.

The both of them looked like they were wearing eyeliner which, no fair, where did they get that from? My conversation with Chai returned to me, but I decided that tonight, I would focus on Chai. She was my date after all. The school had provided juice and other little snacks and Chai informed me that she was thirsty. Wanting to get some good points in, I told her I’d get it.

Luckily, there wasn’t a line, but for some reason, Xero was standing next to the table sans Hansol. When I got closer, he didn’t acknowledge my presence at all. I admired his technique because it literally seemed like he was unaware that I was there.

Deciding to test the waters, I didn’t immediately go for the juice.

“Um, Xero?” the slightly younger male turned his head kind of fast, for a minute there I thought he would get whiplash from how fast he moved. On the other hand, it was kind of creepy too, but then again, he did have a track record that I didn’t want to become an addition to. Xero didn’t speak, but his resting bitch face remained and one eyebrow lifted. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.

“You’re tainting my air,” Xero said when it became obvious I was too stunned to speak. I blinked, caught off guard because, rude, but I didn’t know what to say to that. My first instinct was to apologize, but then Yano was there. I hadn’t seen him since he warned me away from Hansol and Xero. He looked quite calm as he filled up his cup with juice.

When he noticed me looking at him, he stared back.

“Byungjoo-ssi, I think you should breathe,” Yano said, laughter in his tone. I was a little dazed before I realized I was a little lightheaded. Taking a deep breath, my world centered itself again. Xero, who still seemed completely unimpressed with the situation, looked between Yano and I.

“You two know each other?” he asked, but he was looking at Yano who shrugged.

“We’ve met in passing.” Yano replied. Xero hummed softly, but never looked away from Yano.

“He probably won’t like that.” Yano visibly flinched, but didn’t back down.

“I hear he had to be on surveillance. Changing the game then?” Yano asked. Xero didn’t answer, but his expression must’ve meant something to Yano because he turned and looked at me. Yano looked me up and down before shaking his head, tsking lightly.

“That sucks. I actually feel bad for you.” He informed me, which totally confused me.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Yes, Sangwon, what are you talking about?” Yano jumped, his eyes going wide as he whirled around, facing Hansol.

“Long time no see,” Hansol said when Yano made no moves to speak. Yano followed Hansol with his body as Hansol moved so he was standing next to Xero, slipping his arm in between Xero’s as he leaned against him.

“I missed you Sangwonnie.” Hansol cooed and Yano looked awfully pale.

“Are you playing a game with me?” Yano asked and although he tried to appear brave, he was shaking like a leaf.

Hansol hummed, tilting his head into Xero’s shoulder as he appeared to be deep in thought. Finally, he looked at Yano, smiling.

“No, what fun would that be? Besides,” Hansol pouted, glancing at me before he returned his gaze to Yano.

“I’m still not finished with my current game.” Hansol informed him. I was entirely confused by the entire situation, but I couldn’t move. Yano seemed to relax, but he still looked utterly terrified.

“Are you almost done with your game?”

“Almost, it really depends on what happens. Don’t worry Sangwonnie, you’re going to be fine.” Hansol reassured Yano. I was still confused, but Yano stopped shaking as badly as he had been. He nodded and looked at me, but didn’t say anything. Finally, he turned away and disappeared into the crowd of dancing students.

With him gone, it was just Xero, Hansol, and myself. Hansol turned, but instead of acknowledging my existence, he looked down at the punch bowl with disdain.

“It’s the wrong color.” He told Xero who seemed to agree.

“Are you done here?” Xero asked Hansol, looking at his hyung.

“Yup!” Hansol chirped happily.

“I’m really tired and the music is so boring.” Hansol looked up at Xero, definitely pouting at the younger. It worked like a charm and before I could even remember how to make my tongue function, the two were on their way out. When they were out of my sight, I finally decided to get the punch and return to Chai. I had been gone long enough.

Actually, I learned two things. One was that the altercation had only been about two or three minutes. The second thing I learned, was that someone put alcohol in the punch. I had absolutely zero idea as to how that was even possible, but it happened and before I knew it, I was feeling fuzzy and warm. Chai was leaning against me as we made our way out of the gym.

The intent was to head towards her dorm so I could see her off, but we ended up somewhere in the male dorm building. I had no idea where we were, too engrossed in the fact that Chai was nipping at my fingers playfully, but I soon realized we were in the file room. The file room contained the background and reason for every male who slept in this building’s reason for being here.

I didn’t really care considering Chai had by then started pressing kisses to my neck. It felt wonderful, touching her like this, but I knew better than to go too far. Both of us were drunk, and I refused to do anything besides light kissing unless we were both sober.

After a while, we just laid there, breathing. At some point, Chai had decided to look around, but I was content to just stare at the ceiling. Someone needed to take a duster to that thing, but other than that, it wasn’t too hard on the eyes. 


	10. Chapter 10

Suddenly, Chai jumped on my stomach, making me groan. Luckily, I didn’t throw up on her or anything. Instead, I just stared up at her, wondering why she thought that was a good idea.

“Look what I found?” she giggled, wiggling a file in front of my face.

“That’s not okay Chai, these files are confidential and-” I trailed off when I recognized the name on the file. “Kim Hansol”. I stared for a minute, sobering up.

“Chai,” I hesitated, unsure.

“Oh come on, people think he’s here because he’s traumatized, it can’t be that bad.” She reasoned. I wanted to believe her, and that’s probably why I went along with it.

The first page I pretty much knew. Hansol was an orphan. I didn’t know that his mother had died giving birth to him, and that his father died a few years later. After that, there were a few vague excerpts about his time at each foster home. They basically stated that Hansol didn’t get along with the other children or the adults working there. Excerpts from his foster families claimed that he scared them.

I was confused because, how could a toddler scare anyone? Whatever the case may be, I kept reading. On the next page, excerpts from a home made it clear when Xero showed up in his life. Hansol only played with Xero, the two were joined at the hip, pretty much like they were here. However, shortly after that, were details of what they did together.

Basically, they terrorized the other students. There were claims of pushing the children off of the big toys, or taking their toys from them. When asked why he behaved that way, the quote was “I was just playing.” I had a feeling in my gut that was telling me I wasn’t going to like what I saw on the next page. I was right.

On the next page in bold letters was the word **SOCIOPATH**. Underneath that, was the reason for Hansol being here. Chai covered her mouth and I stared blankly. All the stories were wrong, every single one of them.

Xero hadn’t been the one to kill the people in that foster home, it was Hansol. It explained in detail what Hansol did. Basically, he killed most of them with his bare hands, and others got it even worse. I didn’t want to look anymore, and I shoved the file away, my stomach churning.

“I don’t understand,” Chai began, staring off into space, “why do they blame Xero then?”

I didn’t have an answer for her, but apparently I didn’t need to answer the question as she shot up and went to where she had found Hansol’s file. She returned with Xero’s and we looked at each other shakily, before opening it. Xero was much calmer than Hansol.

 Actually, besides being extremely antisocial, nothing was explicitly wrong with him until he met Hansol. After that, he was always at the scene to a child crying or a child with a broken limb. I felt sick to my stomach, but I turned the page anyway. Instead of being a sociopath, the therapists had deemed him an enabler. It was there in bold letters.

He had been found at the scene with Hansol, sticking to his hyung like glue and although Hansol had been covered in blood, he claimed they were just playing. The people there just pointed the fingers at Xero because Hansol, like he did now, appeared as if he could do no wrong. However, videos never lie, and therapists are trained to tell the difference.

“Oh my God.” I breathed, unable to believe what I had read.

Then again, it kind of made sense in a sick kind of way. Hansol was sick, and Xero was sicker for sticking with him, enabling his illness. Chai gagged, but luckily nothing came out. “We need to put everything back,” I said, completely sober by now. We weren’t supposed to be here, and if anyone found us with their files out, we’d be in big trouble. I had a feeling we’d be in bigger trouble if Hansol found out we knew his secret.

At that moment, everything clicked. It was perfectly understandable now, why Yano was terrified of Hansol and not Xero. Xero wouldn’t hurt him, he’d only support Hansol if Hansol decided to hurt Yano. Yano had been warning me away from Hansol because he was the one who would do damage. Xero was essentially harmless, but I refused to overlook it.

If their files were correct, Hansol and Xero met when Hansol was six and Xero was five. Those two had spent years together, and Xero had to have learned something. He was just as dangerous as Hansol.

Chai and I hurriedly put everything away and rushed out of the room. I took her back to her dorm, noting that the other students were filing out of the gym. Good, no one would suspect a thing. Hansol and Xero had supposedly headed off to their dorm, so I had nothing to worry about there. Technically, I wasn’t allowed into her building at the moment, but she didn’t want to go up alone, so we snuck inside together. When we reached her floor, she turned to face me.

“Byungjoo, I’m scared.” She admitted, and I knew she wasn’t lying.

“We need to keep this a secret. We can’t let them know we know the truth. Do you understand?” Chai nodded and took a deep breath.

“Okay. I’ll keep quiet. Be safe okay? I’m really worried.” I nodded and hugged her, squeezing her just a bit too tight.

“I’ll be okay. Go inside.” Chai nodded and opened her door. I was about to walk away until she screamed.

Immediately, I whirled around and went into her room, bumping into her as I went. Chai screamed again, but I was stunned into silence as I saw her room. Her roommate was on the floor, her face towards the door. She was dead. Chai had told me she didn’t want to go because she got paranoid in large crowds.

From the look of things, she had been strangled to death, and her neck and wrists were slit. Although there was a lot of blood around her, it was also on the walls, but in words. Surrounding the room was the simple statement of “YOU’RE NEXT”. By now, Chai had dropped to her knees and she was sobbing, covering her face as she did so.

I dropped down, wrapping my arms around her, and she leaned into me, crying loudly. I don’t know how much time passed before the room was abuzz with movement. Chai and I were removed from the room as the adults scrambled around the room, trying to figure out what had happened. Although my mind had been drifting, I definitely heard someone’s distressed tone claiming the cameras had been off throughout the entire night.

Most if not all of the security was busy either with the dance, or at a meeting that had been set up. Only a few people were staying out, and none of them had been at risk, so there was generally no reason to suspect something would happen. I knew, that this was planned, and I had a feeling as to who did it. The only problem, was how could I back that up?

For the most part, Hansol had been at the party and I doubted he’d been gone long enough to actually kill her. So how had he done it? I had a feeling that I would find the answer if I looked in his room. It was a terrifying thought, especially after what I’d learned tonight, but I was determined to learn the truth.

After the security took our statement, a therapist took Chai away and I went back to my dorm. Hojoon was there, and he looked worried. When he saw me, he sighed in relief.

“Thank goodness Byungjoo! I thought you were hurt or something.”

“Hyung, its Hansol.” I wasn’t calm enough to be gentle with the information. Hojoon paused, confused by the change in topic.

“What?” he asked.

“Hansol! He’s the one who is doing this. He killed those people at his foster home, Nakta, he hurt Chai, and he killed Chai’s roommate. All of it was Hansol!” Hojoon stared at me, a dazed expression on his face as he sat down on his bed. I thought that maybe he’d react strongly or something, not go into himself like he was currently doing. Finally, Hojoon snapped out of it and looked at me.

“Does he know that you know?” he asked, catching me off guard. I thought for sure that Hojoon would ask for more questions, demand I give him more information, and back up my case. However, he was staring at me, waiting for my answer. I shook my head and Hojoon sighed, rubbing his face.

“That’s good. You’re safe then.” Wait.

“Hyung, you knew?” I asked, sitting down on my bed as well. Tonight was just so overwhelming and I felt so tired.

“I knew about Hansol’s past at the foster home, but I didn’t know about all of this.” Hojoon sighed again and he looked as tired as I did.

“How can we prove it’s him?” I asked, looking at the elder. Hojoon merely shrugged.

“Unless you’ve got evidence, it’s his word against yours. Besides, Hansol is here for a reason, the most they’ll do is medicate him.” Although this was a mental facility, they tried to find a natural way to solve our illnesses instead of jumping right into the pills. Honestly, I doubted even shock therapy would work on Hansol. I don’t even remember when I fell asleep, but it was a rest I needed.


	11. Chapter 11

I woke up early the next morning. Hojoon was showering, I could see his robe was missing. As I sat up, last night’s events returned full force. I was at a loss as to what I should do. On one hand, Hansol was a sociopath running free and I was his target.

On the other hand, I couldn’t prove a single thing because the tapes have mysteriously disappeared or the camera wasn’t working when Hansol was hurting someone. Maybe, maybe if I checked his room there’d be something of interest.

At the thought, I perked up. Sociopaths didn’t feel anything, not really, so why would he be scared of anyone finding out what he was doing? So it must be Xero, the one who looked out for him, who was getting rid of the evidence. Maybe, I could find the evidence in their room, and then give it to the Head of Security.

With a plan in mind, I began my day. Hojoon didn’t bring up last night, so I didn’t either. However, when he went off to breakfast, I held back, claiming I needed to shower. He didn’t even bat a lash as he left the room. I actually did need a shower, and when I was finished, I peeked out. No one was there. Everyone should’ve been at breakfast.

I entered the hallway and went to the left. Hansol and Xero’s dorm was on the same floor, but at the very end of the hall. In this facility, locks were a gift, so entering their room was nothing. Our room had a lock because the both of us had never been at risk here and Hojoon’s problem was noise, so he wouldn’t try to hurt himself. Hansol and Xero didn’t get the same treatment.

Their room was neat, very neat actually. There weren’t any pictures or posters or anything. If it weren’t for the dresser that had a few journals on it, it would’ve seemed like no one lived there. It looked like an untouched guest room. Hansol’s bed did have a few teddy bears on it, but that was it.

The journals were for their classes, which wasn’t something I was interested. I looked around, finding the eyeliner, but not what I wanted. Their clothes were folded neatly, color coordinated and everything. I stood in the middle of the room, wondering where someone would hide something they didn’t want anyone to see.

Having a light bulb moment, I lifted up Xero’s bed. At first, I didn’t see anything, but tucked away in the corner was a box. Smiling to myself, I got it out and set the bed back where I found it, fixing anything I messed up. I sat down on the floor, looking at what appeared to be a shoe box. I opened it and looked inside.

The first thing I saw, was a picture of what had to be Hansol and Xero when they were younger. They were sitting next to each other, holding hands, and smiling up at the camera. Under that were random items that probably held some value to Xero.

At the bottom were two discs that were unlabeled. These had to be it. Hoping they were, I took them out and returned the box where I found it. With that out of the way, I slipped the discs into my jacket and went back to my room and hid them. With that done, I went to the cafeteria for breakfast, finding Hojoon quickly.

“What took you so long?” he asked.

“It’s not every day you leave hot water for me.” I teased, hoping he’d take the bait, even though I probably didn’t use the same stall. He did. Hojoon looked absolutely appalled as he placed a hand on his chest.

“Well I’ll be,” he said, shaking his head. I laughed, pleasantly surprised at the distraction.

After that, the day went relatively smoothly. I didn’t get to see Chai, but I left a note at our bench that would let her know I wanted to meet her tonight. Before then, I found myself taking another shower, and I had a moment of déjà vu when Hansol and Xero entered the bathroom. Like last time, only one stall turned on, and I just assumed one was waiting outside for the other.

“Someone was in our room,” Xero said. My heart rate sped up, but I forced myself to keep my breathing even, they didn’t know I was here.

“What did they take?” Hansol sounded calm, completely at ease.

“The videos, of you.” Xero replied and Hansol was quiet for a moment.

“It doesn’t matter.” He replied after a moment and Xero groaned.

“Hyung, what if they give it to a higher up?” Xero asked, and he sounded distressed.

“You’re too stressed Jiho, everything is going to be okay.” Hansol made shushing noises and I could hear Xero taking deep breaths before he sighed.

“Everything is fine. Those videos don’t matter because my hyung has this place in his back pocket.” Hyung? The file said nothing about Hansol having siblings, so he knew someone wealthy who was very close to him, and obviously knew of his murderous ways. Xero sighed, definitely sounding more relaxed.

“Is he still waiting for you? You haven’t told me about any of your conversations since last month.” Hansol giggled and there was movement in the stall.

“Because we’ve been busy with our games. I’ve kept in close contact with him, and he said I can play one more game before he comes.” Hansol informed the younger.

“Are you excited?” Xero asked.

“Yes, but we’ve got a game to wrap up don’t we?” Hansol asked.

If Xero replied, it wasn’t verbal. I wanted them to hurry up and leave, because the water was starting to get cold. I refused to leave first in case one of them really was waiting outside of the stall and saw me. I doubted I was supposed to know as much as I did.

The two left before me, and after that, I returned to my room. I tried to act as nonchalant as possible, so Hojoon wouldn’t worry. He seemed to buy it. Time went by, and eventually, everyone was in their dorm, supposedly sleeping. I couldn’t do that, I had to meet up with Chai. Instead, I made sure Hojoon was actually sleep. He slept like a hibernating bear really, so there was nothing to worry about on that end. When I went to the Commons, Chai was waiting for me, hurriedly waving me over.

“What did you find?” she asked, her voice low.

“I think I have the discs that was taken from the security room.” I whispered back. Chai looked surprised, but nodded with grim determination.

When I pulled out the videos, we mulled over which one to watch. None of them were labeled, so I guess it didn’t really matter. Finally, I grabbed one and slipped it into the DVD player. I turned the volume down so no one would hear us. As far as I was concerned, we were safe as long as it wasn’t too loud. As we settled down, close to the television so we could hear, the video started.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: VIOLENCE AND CHARACTER DEATH

The video started and it showed Hansol, sitting in a room. It was bare save for a bed and a small dresser. I’m assuming this was when he spent his time under heavy surveillance. Why there was a mirror in there, I had no idea. Besides that, there were a lot of fashion magazines on the dresser. Hansol was sitting on the floor, curled into himself.

His knees were pressed to his chest with his chin settled on top of his knees. He was crying. I recognized his outfit from the night I told him I didn’t want to be friends with him anymore. This must’ve been his first day in that room.

For a while, Hansol didn’t do anything except sit there. It was kind of weird how still he was. I fast forwarded it a little, stopping when he actually began moving. Hansol stood up in one movement, turning around in the room. He twirled for a bit before stopping, his head tilted to the side as he focused on the mirror.

“Was I wrong?” he asked the mirror, his voice as childlike as usual, but stuffy from his crying. Obviously, there wasn’t an answer, but Hansol tilted his head the other way, pouting at the mirror.

“I just wanted to play.” He told the mirror, rubbing his face as he moved towards the dresser. The small chair there wasn’t much, but Hansol obviously didn’t want to sit in it. Instead, he threw it across the room awfully hard.

Hansol made an angry noise that didn’t fit his face at all before he proceeded to destroy the room. Magazines were flying in the air, ripped pages floating down. His tantrum lasted about five minutes before he sat down on the dresser itself, looking into the cracked mirror.

He’d broken it earlier by throwing the chair at it, only a few shards fell off. Hansol picked up one of the shards, twirling it in his hand before he pushed it back into where it had fallen out. He sighed and flopped down, still looking into the mirror.

“He was so mean to me.” Hansol told the mirror.

“I was being nice,” he said.

“Really, I was.” He sighed, placing the back of his hand on his forehead as he leaned back.

“I guess I won’t be nice anymore. Not worth my time,” he said, kicking the air lazily.

After that, Hansol hummed a song neither Chai nor myself knew. When he made no moves to get off the dresser, I pressed the forward button again. Apparently, the disc had the full time Hansol spent in there. He didn’t do much, leaving the room in the disarray he put it in.

At the two week mark, one of the guards came in. His tone was gruff as he entered the room. Hansol was on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression. For the most part, he had stayed almost inhumanly still on that bed. He showed no signs that he noticed or heard the guard call his name.

“You had a visitor.” That got Hansol’s attention. The boy sat up, looking as childlike as ever now that he was no longer crying.

“I did? Do tell.” He purred, smiling at the guard. The guard didn’t tell, instead gave Hansol the package. They obviously checked it out before hand, because it was open, but Hansol didn’t care. Slowly, he shifted up and looked inside. He looked happy at what he saw. What he pulled out was a letter, one he skimmed over before going back to what was in the box.

Inside was hair dye which explained his current hair color, and a large hoodie, the one I’d seen him wearing. Hansol left the room with the guard, hair dye in his hand. I fast forwarded it until he returned. Again, Hansol didn’t do much, merely put the hoodie on and laid back down.

He sighed, smiling as he said, “Guess it’s time to end my game.” He shrugged, pulling the hood over his head.

“It was getting boring anyway.” After that, the video ended.

“What does he mean by game?” Chai asked after taking the disc out. “I’m not sure,” I said, shaking my head, “but I think I have an idea. Let’s watch the other one.” 

Chai nodded and slipped the second one in. I thought for sure this one would be the one where Hansol attacked Chai, but it wasn’t.

The video showed Chai’s room, without Chai in it. However, Chai’s roommate was there. She was dozing in her bed, mostly hidden from view under the covers. The lights were off, but thanks to the open blinds, there was a little bit of light in the room.

Nothing happened at first, Chai’s roommate was peacefully asleep, unaware of the danger that was coming for her. It happened about two minutes later. The door opened slowly and Hansol strolled in, completely unbothered by what he was going to do.

Instead, he made his way towards her bed with purpose, stopping to glance at the camera recording him. So he definitely knew he was being recorded. For some reason, the camera turned away and I almost panicked until it went back to where it was. Hansol smiled at the camera and then turned away.

I thought that maybe Hansol would just go for the kill, but he didn’t. Instead, he straddled her, pushing his weight down on her on purpose. Chai’s roommate woke up immediately and if it weren’t for Hansol’s gloved hand, her scream would’ve brought in a guard.

“Shh. Unfortunately, I can’t make you scream tonight.” He told her.

“Now, be a good girl, and don’t scream when I move my hand. Okay?” the girl nodded and Hansol nodded too.

“Okay. I’ll take it off, but if you scream, I’ll have to gut you, and that’s not part of the game.” There was that term again. This was all a game to him, and it made me feel sick. Hansol lifted his hand and the girl remained quiet, staring up at him with wide eyes.

“Good, very good. Now, nothing personal but,” Hansol’s hands moved, lightning fast, and wrapped around her throat. The girl immediately started to struggle, but Hansol didn’t even seem to notice.

“I have to kill you.” He told her.

She fought, attempting to claw at Hansol. It didn’t hurt him, mostly due to the long sleeve shirt he was wearing. She couldn’t reach his face either.

“Aren’t you a fighter?” Hansol asked her, well, obviously it was rhetorical. It didn’t take long before the fight left her. When she was dead, Hansol let go and shook his head.

“Colorful.” He murmured before getting up and dragging her to the floor. When he had her how he wanted, he went for her wrists, humming to himself as he worked. He pulled out a sharp piece of glass and I vaguely remembered him playing with the shard of mirror in the last video. Maybe he had saved some.

“Such a waste,” Hansol said as he cut her wrist open, watching the blood flow, still warm. After that, Hansol began writing on the walls. It surprisingly didn’t take that long, but he ended up cutting her other wrist and her neck in the process to finish things up. Besides his humming, he was quiet. When he was finished, he stood near the girl’s dead body, careful of the blood draining out of her.

“And to think, I really liked this outfit.” He told no one in particular.

Afterwards, he shrugged and then looked at the camera again. It turned away from him then came back. I was starting to get the feeling that this was a signal. Hansol nodded and clapped his gloved hands.

“Alright then, time to go.” He took off the gloves he was wearing and shoved them in his pocket, only to take out a matching pair from the other. Once he put them on, he waved at the girl’s dead body then left, shutting the door quietly behind him. Once he was gone, the screen went black.


	13. Chapter 13

“Someone was controlling the camera,” Chai said, getting my attention.

“Do you think it was Xero?” I asked her.

“I mean, he is Hansol’s enabler.” She replied.

“Good job, Sherlock Holmes.” I nearly jumped out of my skin, whirling around to see Hansol leaning on the couch. We had been sitting in front of it, so who knows how long he’d been there.

“How long were you there?” Chai asked, her eyes wide and her voice filled with fear.

“A while. Goodness, that whole ten pounds thing was true. Huh.” Hansol mused, smiling down at us.

“What are you going to do?” I asked, looking past him, my heart beginning to race when I saw Xero leaning against the wall near the exit.

“Well,” Hansol began as he looked at his nails. “My original intent was to keep you, but you were mean to me. I hate mean people,” Hansol said, shooting a glare at me over his nails.

“My game would’ve been so much simpler if you would’ve just went along, but you didn’t! You picked her!” he growled, pointing at Chai and glaring at her. Chai squeaked and crawled backwards.

“But then,” Hansol’s expression turned dreamy as he leaned on his palm, “my hyung sent me a message. Basically, my time here is coming to an end, which means you two die. No hard feelings or anything.” He shrugged, still smiling. There was a sharpness to it that I never noticed before.

“You don’t have to kill us.” Chai tried to reason, but I knew that wasn’t going to work.

“Oh but I do. Xero was in the process of destroying those, but you found them.” Hansol pouted and lifted his hand, wagging his pointer finger.

“That’s no-no. And so, I have to kill you.”

“You didn’t kill Yano,” I said, watching the way he jumped over the couch, getting closer to us as we crawled backwards. I really regretted choosing to sit on the floor now.

“True, but Sangwonnie won’t go against me. He knows I won’t kill him. He’s scared of me, but he wouldn’t rat me out, unlike you two.”

I could see Chai shaking her head out of the corner of my eye.

“I swear! I won’t tell anyone about this. I didn’t tell anyone about that night.” Hansol paused, cocking his head to the side.

“That’s true, and I admire that in you. However, you are the reason he pushed me away. By default, you die. I did warn you, but nobody believes me.” Hansol sighed dramatically, shaking his head.

“My baby face really makes people underestimate me. I warn them.”

He shrugged and reached behind his back. I had no idea what he was reaching for, and I didn’t want to find out. I made a split second decision, shifting into a crouch. I shouted for Chai to run and then rushed Hansol.

I have to admit, Hansol was stronger than he looked, because he didn’t fall at all when I slammed into him. In fact, he was much more solid than I previously thought and he barely rocked in his position. However, whatever he’d been reaching for dropped to the ground.

The clattering sound it made let me know it was a knife. Chai had raced off and I followed, surprised when Xero made no move to actually stop us or help Hansol, he just watched. My initial instinct was to head for the door, but it didn’t budge even when I slammed into it. It hurt, a lot more than running into Hansol did, and that kind of hurt.

I looked towards Chai to see her rushing down the hall, shooting down it and I followed her. I didn’t look behind me as I did so, my only thought was to get away from Hansol.

“Chai!” I whisper yelled, looking for her. I jumped when a hand grabbed me, yanking me into a closet. A closet? Upon closer inspection, I saw multiple mops and a few brooms. The janitor closet. Chai pushed me against the wall, shaking her head as she covered my mouth.

“Shh.” She hissed. When I was calm, she let go.

“The doors aren’t working,” is the first thing I thought to say.

“That’s probably why Xero didn’t chase us.” She replied. That made sense.

“The guards aren’t here,” Chai said, getting my attention.

“What?” I asked, turning to look at her.

“It’s like midnight, they all plan what to do for the next day in the main building. If they’ve got the doors locked, our best bet is to wake someone up or something,” she said, her mind racing. Before I could answer with an idea, I heard humming.

“Joo Joo,” that was definitely Hansol. “Where are you?” I heard him ask.

I looked at Chai with wide eyes, and she placed her finger to her lips. His voice got softer as he walked away and I took a deep breath.

“What can we do?” I asked.

“I think they planned this. He kept talking about a game, this must be it. If the door out of here isn’t working, then the doors to get upstairs must be jammed too. We’re stuck on this floor with them until one team wins.” She replied. I wanted to collapse, to just fall on the floor and cry, but I couldn’t do that. I had to stay strong. I could do this.

“We can’t hide in here forever,” I said, getting a nod from Chai.

“There isn’t much to choose from if they jammed the doors. The only thing open to us would be the Commons, the kitchen, and the hall.”

“The kitchen! Do you think that’s where Hansol got his knife?” Chai asked.

“No. Our kitchen is small. It only has a microwave, a sink, and spoons, and those are plastic. Nothing to hurt anyone. He must’ve got that out of the cafeteria.” I replied, trying to think.

“What about the chairs? They’re wooden.” That was true, but getting back to the Commons with those two out and about wouldn’t be a good idea.

“How about this, I’ll sneak to the kitchen, see what I can find. You stay here and hold down the fort.” I supplied. Chai thought about it before nodding.

“You know the place better than I do.” She replied. With our decision made, I pressed up against the door, listening for Hansol or Xero. Nothing.

Chai shut the door quickly and as quietly as possible after I slipped out, and I hurriedly went to the left, where the kitchen was. It felt like forever, but that was probably because of how freaked out I was. A sociopath and his enabler wanted to kill me and Chai. That wasn’t how I wanted to live my life. When I got to the kitchen, I looked around.

For the most part, I was right. For some reason, there was still a bowl of ramen in the microwave, as if someone had forgotten it. I wondered if it would be useful to heat it up or something. Hot water could do damage. Then again, the microwave made a lot of noise, and I did not want to attract attention.

As I was mulling it over, I heard movement from behind me. Terror raced through me as I ducked down into the cabinet under the sink. My breathing was a little bit loud, so I tried to tamp it down. I succeeded a minute before someone entered the kitchen. I was so glad I didn’t turn the light on otherwise I would’ve been screwed.

I could tell by the humming that it was Hansol. So where was Xero? Hansol moved around slowly, without a care in the world. I stopped breathing when he stopped in front of the sink. I thought for sure I was screwed until I heard Xero’s voice.

“Hyung!” Hansol stopped moving and humming as he listened.

“What?” Hansol called back, sounding amused.

“Come to the Commons!” I heard Xero’s voice echo.

Hansol made a noise of curiosity in the back of his throat, stepping away from the sink. For a moment, he didn’t move, but then I heard him walk away. When he was gone, I peeked out, taking in the empty kitchen. With the coast clear, I climbed out of the cabinet, not even bothering to close it behind me. Xero must’ve found something, and I had to make sure it wasn’t Chai.

My worst fears were confirmed when I saw the janitor’s closet wide open, a couple mops on the floor and one of Chai’s shoes. They had her, and I had to get her back.


	14. Chapter 14

Going into the Commons was one of the scariest things I had ever done. I was willingly going into a sociopath’s lair to get my best friend, maybe even girlfriend, out of a dangerous situation. When I went inside, I noticed that someone had turned the couch around so it was no longer facing the television. Instead, it was facing the entrance, which meant it was facing me.

Immediately I saw Xero sitting on the couch with Chai in between his legs. He was covering her mouth, but when she saw me, her eyes got big and she started shaking her head. At first, I had no idea why she was doing that until I realized Hansol was missing.

 Before I could look for him, he bum rushed me, and he did it way better than I did to him earlier. He was heavy as he forced me onto the ground and before I knew it, I was on my back with him hovering over me, small hands wrapped tightly around my neck.

“Hello there Joo Joo. So glad to see you again,” he said, squeezing my neck in warning. I was feeling lightheaded, but I knew he was just playing with me.

“You know, this was a fun game. I really enjoyed it, besides the part where you picked coffee over there over me. I really thought we could have something y’know? Then again, my hyung doesn’t like when I share. He only lets me keep Xero because well,” Hansol shrugged, but it didn’t lessen the grip he had on my neck. He was really good at this.

“What’s mine is his and all that. So I guess it’s a good thing you fucked up.” If he wasn’t choking me out, I wouldn’t have been able to take his cursing seriously. However, given the circumstances, I knew he was definitely serious.

I thought that maybe he would end it quickly, considering how he had been stressing the fact that it was time to end this game. However, he sat back on my stomach and let go. I started sucking in air immediately which resulted in me coughing loudly. When I had everything under control again, I looked up at him.

“Why haven’t you killed me yet?” I asked, voice hoarse. Hansol blinked as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him before he smiled.

“Silly Joo Joo, I’m going to kill latte over there first. What fun would it be if you didn’t get to watch me kill her?” I don’t think I was supposed to answer that question.

“Up you go,” Hansol said suddenly, pulling me up. Definitely stronger than I gave him credit for. Hansol was all smiles as he made me walk towards the couch. In one synchronized move, Hansol shoved me towards the couch at the same time Xero shoved Chai towards Hansol. Neither of us could even react before Xero, who was stronger than I ever gave him credit for, had me in a tight hold I couldn’t get out from and Hansol had Chai at knife point.

“Hello coffee bean.” Hansol greeted Chai, smiling almost politely. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but I’m afraid I have to kill you.” Hansol informed her quite nonchalantly. Definitely a sociopath.

“You don’t have to do this.” Chai pleaded, looking at him with wide eyes.

“You don’t have to-” suddenly, Chai shoved her elbow into Hansol’s stomach, forcing him to let go of her. Immediately, she made a run for it, but didn’t go far before Hansol grabbed her by her ponytail and yanked her right back. Chai hit the floor with a cry of pain as Hansol literally dragged her to his feet by her hair.

“That was so rude.” Hansol told her, glaring down at her.

“I was going to be nice and kill you quickly, but now,” Hansol trailed off as he placed the knife to her neck, pressing hard enough to split the skin as he slit her throat. I screamed into Xero’s hand, turning away as my eyes watered. Surprisingly, Xero didn’t force me to watch.

After a minute, Xero made me turn my head back and I nearly gagged. Chai was leaning against Hansol’s leg, most likely against her will, as she bled out. Her eyes were on my face, and I tearfully apologized into Xero’s hand. Hansol huffed and nudged her down with his foot, making her fall face first onto the floor. Immediately, blood began pooling out onto the floor.

“And now, it’s Joo Joo’s turn.” Hansol cooed, leaning down to wipe the blood off on Chai’s shirt. For a minute, I forgot who was holding me captive as I leaned away from Hansol’s advances, into Xero’s body.

“Don’t worry Joo Joo, it’s only gonna hurt oh,” Hansol looked towards the ceiling before meeting my eyes again as he smiled, “a lot.”

I felt Xero shift, like he was preparing to give me to Hansol, and I went with it. When he pushed me, I used the momentum to slam into Hansol. It hurt a little, but we fell on the floor either way. Hansol made a noise of shock and annoyance as we fell, and I struggled with him, fighting hard to stay on top of him.

If he got his hands around my neck, I was a goner. Whilst we were struggling, I heard the knife clatter away, and I looked for it. For a second, I forgot how strong Hansol was and as I reached for the knife, Hansol yanked me back and under him. Hansol was quick to get his hands around my neck, scowling down at me.

“Rude, you’re so fucking rude Joo Joo, and that’s why I have to kill you.” Hansol growled as dots blotted my vision. I searched the floor around me, ignoring the way my hand landed in the puddle of Chai’s blood. If I could breathe, I would’ve whooped with delight when I felt the knife dig into my skin.

 It hurt, but it was nothing compared to what Hansol was doing to me. I grabbed it, wincing when it dug into my flesh. I knew it would scar deeply, but that didn’t matter if I died beforehand. I struggled with it before I had the handle and then I was plunging it into Hansol’s side.

For some reason, he didn’t make too loud of a noise. Instead, he gasped as he let me go, sitting back and looking down at where I had stabbed him. I was struggling to catch my breath and through my wobbling vision, I watched the way Hansol glared down at the handle, reaching for it.

“Ow,” he said as he grabbed it, pulling it out.

“Ow,” another bit of it, and then with one last emotionless “ow” the knife was out and Hansol was glaring down at me, placing a hand over the wound. Before he could do anything, the three of us heard loud voices.

“Security! Open this door right now!” how their voices breached through and reached the Commons I would never know, but I was delighted. I was saved. I turned to look at Hansol, wondering what he would do. Hansol was, he was pouting.

“Damn it.” He hissed and before I knew it, he was pushing the knife back into his wound.

“What the-” I stared in confusion.

Admittedly, I blamed my sluggish reaction to the fact that my brain was lacking on air, but I could only watch in a daze as Hansol grabbed my hand, pressing it to the underside of the wound where the blood had been flowing down until he put the knife back. With that out of the way, Hansol rolled off of me, careful of his wound and curled into himself. I looked at him, dazed and confused, but his dark eyes showed nothing.

“This isn’t over,” Hansol said, sounding completely unbothered by his wound or the interruption. Confused, I rolled my head a little, noticing that Xero was no longer on the couch. Where was he? I could still hear the security trying to get inside, and then suddenly Xero was there. He was cleaning Hansol’s hands like it was nothing, shoving the evidence into his pocket before he disappeared.

Vaguely, I noticed he didn’t have a single speck of blood on him. I could only watch him go, that or look into Hansol’s completely empty black eyes. Then he disappeared from view and I was left with Hansol. His eyes were closed and he was taking deep breaths, his hands close to his wound. I couldn’t say anything, couldn’t do anything, and then I heard it.

“Help! Help, he stabbed my best friend.” It was Xero, and he sounded like he was crying.

“Where are they?” I heard someone ask Xero. Xero sounded completely hysterical, blubbering like a child as he guided the group of security into the Commons. I could finally see Xero again. His face was red and tears fell down his cheeks in rivulets as he pointed at me, sounding down right hysterical.

He was an amazing actor. He was blubbering out some excuse and I could just barely register that he was making me out to be the one who did all of this. I turned to look at Hansol again and his eyes were open, focused on me.

“What have you done?” I asked him, noting how my voice sounded sluggish. How long had he strangled me? Hansol smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“My games always go my way.” Hansol whispered, careful of the security fluttering around him. His black eyes were glittering even if they were emotionless.

“See you soon Joo Joo.” He whispered.

I watched as the guards took him out, most likely carting him off to be taken care of. I caught a glimpse of Xero while I was being handcuffed. No one else was watching him, and he wasn’t crying anymore. He looked completely amused as he watched me, he waved a bit, then quickly got back into character when someone approached him. I had been screwed from the beginning.


	15. Chapter 15

The next few days passed with interrogations. The cameras hadn’t been recording, most likely due to Xero. Hansol had claimed that he was only using self-defense, and they believed it. Because of him, Chai and her roommate’s death was on me, and there was nothing I could do about it. My history wasn’t helping me in the least. Luckily, they hadn’t started medicating me yet. They wanted to make sure I wasn’t brain damaged from what happened.

Besides choking me, Hansol hadn’t been framed for anything. That was all thanks to Xero who had cleaned up Hansol’s fingerprints. They had still been on the knife, but Hansol had been holding the thing when it was embedded in his body. Four guards could vouch for him on that one.

I was moved into an isolation room, and this one didn’t have a mirror. No one came to visit me, mostly because they all thought I was a murderer and also because no one was allowed in here. Well actually, someone was, but I didn’t appreciate it.

It had been a week since that night and I had been alone after the interrogation finished up. I had been put on meds that kept me calm and sluggish, so it took a minute for me to realize Hansol was in the room. He was perched on the edge of my bed all cat like and emotionless as he stared at me. I stared at him, terrified and so many other things. However, the meds wouldn’t let me act on any of it.

“What are you doing here?” I wasn’t sure if he could understand me considering I didn’t get to talk to anyone since I started taking the medication.

“I came to see you. How are you?” Hansol didn’t actually sound concerned at all.

“How did you get in here?” I asked instead, aware that he wasn’t truly interested in how I was doing.

“Ah, my hyung pulled a few strings and,” Hansol shrugged, “here I am. I came to visit because it’s my last day here.” He informed me, rocking forward.

“Your last day? And you came to see me? Why not Hojoon hyung.” I hadn’t gotten to see him, but I wondered if he knew it was really Hansol who had done all this.

“Ah, Hojoon hyung doesn’t like my games. Cut ties,” he said, pantomiming scissors cutting the air.

“And you haven’t tried to kill him?” Hansol shook his head.

“Of course not. I was never interested in Hojoon hyung in that way, his disinterest doesn’t bother me like yours did. But, I have nothing to worry about on that end.” He replied.

“Does he know you’re the one who did this?” I asked. Hansol nodded, smiling brightly, his eyes still as blank as ever.

“Of course he does. Y’know, I’m surprised he didn’t warn you away. He’s known about me since the beginning.” Honestly, I was too sluggish and drugged up to even touch that topic.

“But it doesn’t matter,” Hansol began as he crawled up the bed, sitting down on my stomach.

“I’m here to finish the game.” He finished, leaning down. I tried to struggle or do anything, but I was too sluggish. I hadn’t gotten much chance to get used to the drugs, so the effects were much stronger than usual. I could do nothing but wiggle as Hansol wrapped his hands around me. Why his hands were so soft when he’s probably strangled more people than I could count was beyond me.

“I was going to slit your throat, make you bleed out all pretty like, but I learned my lesson about letting you near a knife.” Hansol tsked as he tightened his grip. Weakly, I wrapped my hands around his wrists, trying to get him to let go. It was useless. Hansol could’ve batted my hands away like a fly, but he allowed me to think I could stop him. It didn’t take long before my vision began to fade.

“Game over,” Hansol said, smiling down at me as my world faded. Those cold dead eyes and that too sharp smile would follow me into death.


End file.
